Thermaltake DH 202 VJ80011N2Z Digital Home Series HTPC Case with Built-in Media LAB LCD and Remote Controller

Review by D. Williams for Thermaltake DH 202 VJ80011N2Z Digital Home Series HTPC Case with Built-in Media LAB LCD and Remote Controller
Rating:
I purchased this for a full ITX MB and it fit great. The case is big, but no bigger than a typical AVR. Cooling is ample and the front display “IMON” is a really cool feature. It displays whatever you want it too and comes with software to easily customize. I will scrool your movie title, PC specs etc..The built in IR worked out of the box with my Logitech Harmony One remote. My only gripe is that the retention brackets for PCi and PCI E cards are cheapo! I dont use them anymore due to previous issues with cards not seating right, but when I did attempt to use one it snapped right off with out much pressure!

Why did I give it a 5 even with the bracket breaking?

This case’s front power LED connector is a 2 pin style connector while my MB has 3 pin. Thermaltake is very good about supplying all you would need but did no provide an adapter. I emailed thermaltake to point this out got a very quick response and considered my suggestion. They also mailed me an adapter at no cost to me. The customer support was fast, helpful, and refreshing. I would reccomend this case to anyone.

Review by Daniel Y. Lee for Thermaltake DH 202 VJ80011N2Z Digital Home Series HTPC Case with Built-in Media LAB LCD and Remote Controller
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I wanted to build an Intel i7 system for my living room and I wanted to have the computer fit seamlessly into my stereo component rack. I looked all around for a full size HTPC case to accommodate a full size graphics card, namely the Nvidia GTX 260. I initially saw the Thermaltake DH101 on Amazon, but when I checked it out at the local brick and mortar store, the case looked absolutely horrible. That was when I saw the DH202. Loved the design of the faceplate, so I purchased it without looking further. Bad mistake. A week later I went to the local Fry’s Electronics and saw the Zalman HD135 & HD160. The Zalmans are maded of 100% aluminum, including the faceplate & top cover, whereas the DH202 only has the faceplate being aluminum and everything else is sheet metal, which means this case is heavy compared to the Zalmans. The contruction on the DH202 was seriously lacking when compared to the Zalmans. The fit and finish just doesn’t compare. On top of which, the Nvidia GTX 260 cards I purchased (also on Amazon), doesn’t fit in the DH202 without taking out the hard-drive bracket that held the hard-drives in place. The soldering points of the GTX260 were actually touching the metal hard-drive bracket. So, unless I want to place my graphics card on the 2nd PCI-E slot, I’m “SOL.” I am SOL because I have two GTX 260s and the 3rd PCI-E is only 4X as compared to the 16X for the first 2 PCI-E slots on my ASUS P6T motherboard. The PCI card holders were made of plastic and these holders made it very difficult to install the graphics cards in place. I actually ended up lacerating a certain part of my motherboard because of the difficulty in installing the card in place because of these plastic parts. Another bad design on the DH202 was that the faceplate was held in place by 3 metal clips, one of which broke on me the second time I tried to open it (had to re-allign the hard-drive & DVD burner). Thermaltake RMA the part, but it took over a week and a half. It just seems like the quality isn’t really there when compared to the Zalman HTPCs. Although the Zalmans are a bit more expensive, if I had to do it again, I would chose Zalman over this Thermaltake

The plus side of this case is that the faceplace looks very nice with the brushed alluminum finish. The minimalistic design of the faceplate was what initially sold me but after doing further research, the Zalman would had been a better choice. Here is what is included in the system with this DH202:

- (2) NVidia GTX260 graphics cards in SLI

- ASUS P6T Motherboard

- 6GB OCZ 1600 DDR3 RAM

- Intel i7 920 quad core CPU

- Toshiba DVD/RW dual layer burner

- Seagate 1.5TB hard-drive

- Corsair HX850W power supply (excellent power supply)

- Windows Vista Business (No Media Center…bummer)

Update:

This is a response to Joveasy’s comment: No, I don’t consider it a dumb idea to have SLI with two GTX 260 GPUs because I want to game as well as be a media center. With both GTX 260 cards installed, the noise level is still very adequate. The included 12cm fan was noticeably noiser than the two cards combined. Please remember, this is a VERY recently implemented full ATX case, which should make accomodations to current graphics cards. I have been building computers since 1996 and would think I know a thing or two on what it is I’m talking about. If I wanted a small cramped space for an HTPC, I would have settled on a microATX design that would limit my flexibility. However, that was not the case (literally). I also physically checked out the Zalman case and it does have the necessary space to accomodate the 10.5″ cards. Were you able to do so as well? So, please keep that in mind when you call out someone’s idea as being “dumb.” It makes you look and sound like an immature high schooler without any regard for other’s opinions or for that matter, doing your own research.

Also, for the record, I purchased the Thermaltake because I was not exposed to the Zalman, which is only about 30 dollars more.

I have also updated/added the following components:

Windows 7 Professional(great augmentation to Media Center)

LG Blu Ray 8X drive

Logitech diNovo Mini USB keyboard/mouse

Zalman CNPS9500 92mm 2 bal cooling Fan with Heatsink

One of this things I noticed about this HTPC case is that it will not accomodate anything larger than the Zalman CNPS9500 Heatsink/Fan. Initially, I tried the CNPS9700 but it just was standing too tall. Remember, this is a low profile HTPC design, so it will not work with tall Heatsink/Fans.

This HTPC goes through the following components on my entertainment center:

- Sony STR-DA5300ES Amp/Receiver

- Samsung PN58A550 58″ plasma display

- Sony PS3 for BluRay

Review by Peter Katz for Thermaltake DH 202 VJ80011N2Z Digital Home Series HTPC Case with Built-in Media LAB LCD and Remote Controller
Rating:
The case looks great. We started building out the HTPC system yesterday and will have to wait for Thermaltake to send out the bag of hardware that was not included with the case. Thermaltake has a difficult policy to obtain these pieces in that you first have to obtain an eRMA number and then also submit a receipt proving you purchased the item. However, you have to wait for Thermaltake to contact you for the receipt before being able to submit it. I emailed the receipt immediately after obtaining the eRMA number and the customer service person was unable to find it.

Review by Joveasy for Thermaltake DH 202 VJ80011N2Z Digital Home Series HTPC Case with Built-in Media LAB LCD and Remote Controller
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First off i would like to comment on Daniel E Lee’s review of this case.

I do agree that its not as great as the Zalman HTPC case, but obviously the reason it was purchased was because of the price point. The DH-202 is a sweet spot without the case getting too cheap like NMedia cases or any other generic case.

and second why would you complain about fitting two GTX 260’s? this is a HTPC case with limited space, those cards are 10.5 inches each, get a tower if you want more space. it doesn’t make sense to talk about the zalman case and how difficult to fit 2 10.5 inch cards that was just dumb on your part.

Now for my review the case is big enough to fit a full ATX board and a decent video card.

the front of the case was a nice brushed metal black.

after installing all of my parts the case has enough space for an after market CPU heat sink ( scythe big shuriken). the Remote was actually pretty interesting as you can turn on your pc also use it as a mouse, which i found to be pretty awesome. You can also program your Harmony to be used as a mouse, I have a harmony one. you can also program the VFD screen to show the temp outside or a stock ticker or even RSS feeds!. Thermaltake’s IMON program is a bit clunky but with some programing it can actually be pretty helpful.

the only issue i have with the case is where the put the hard drive bracket its right next to the 120mm fan so if you put a 3.5 hard drive its going to be in the way of the intake fan. the hard drive braket also hits the PCI-E connectors of my video card which wasn’t too bad just to take out the bracket then install the card then put back the bracket. its a bit tight but it works without destroying your case.

My Specs are

CPU – Intel I7 860 (Scythe Big Shuriken CPU heatsink)

Motherboard – Asus P7P55D

PSU – Antec TruePower 750 (hybrid modular)

Video CARD – ATI Diamond 5850

RAM – 8gb G.SKILL 1333

Drive – LG BLUE RAY DRIVE 8X

HD – SAMSUNG 1.5TB GREEN HD

LINKSYS WMP300N – Wireless N adapter (internal)

ATI Digital Cable Tuner with cable card support (internal)

Rocket dog bluetooth keyboard and mouse (BT dongle is internal)

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit